Two Days LaterOn Zean’s Ship

  Zefa summoned Smoker and Hina to the and room. Whewo ehey found Zefa seated behind a massive desk piled high with dots.

  Two days earlier, Zean’s warship had picked them up, and the navy had thhly searched Dofmingo’s pirate ship—down to the toilets and trash s.

  Apparently, Dofmingo had uimated the cost of his recklessness. Without any safe hiding spots for his intelligence, all the data he had painstakingly gathered over the years ended up in Zefa’s hands.

  Over the past two days, Zefa had been burning the midnight oil, p over the information until he’d finally finished a preliminary review.

  Smoker noticed the dark circles under Zefa’s eyes and the slightly hunched posture of Akainu, who arrived with Zean shortly after. His lips curled in disdain. **Despicable. They couldn’t even wait until they were off the ship. I always find somepce private.**

  When everyone was seated, Zefa gestured to the sofa, indig for them to sit.

  "Zean, Smoker, Hina, you’ve done an incredible job this time!" Zefa excimed, patting the stack of dots on his desk and pointing to a nearby chest.

  "These tain information about the underworld. The volume and quality far exceed anything the intelligence department at headquarters has!"

  Zean’s eyes lit up. "Really?!"

  Zefa nodded gravely. "From what I’ve seen, the underworld has grown far beyond the navy’s expectations. It’s reached a scale that o longer be ignored.

  "But many allied nations have entangled is with them, even going so far as to help them evade capture."

  The so-called "underworld" referred to industries operating in the shadows between legality and crime—svery, smuggling, funerary services, eai districts, and more.

  Some of the majures in these fields were as powerful and dangerous as the most infamous pirates. Unlike pirates, however, they relied more on ing schemes and were shielded by iial backers, making it difficult for the navy to act against them.

  The CP agents, with their expertise in espionage and disguise, had made progress, but even they hadn’t mao uhe wealth of information now in Zefa’s possession.

  Dofmingo’s intelligence was prehensive: anizational divisions, bck-market trades, key operatives, tacts, transa records—everything was id bare, putting the navy’s intelligence department to shame.

  Zefa leaned back, taking a deep breath and using a mist sprayer to refresh himself. "I never imagihat a lowly pirate could possess this level of ambition and strategy. Letting him go before was a grave mistake."

  Zean spped her leg. "Zefa-sensei, I told you so!"

  "That bastard’s danger isn’t just in his strength—it’s in his mind and his schemes! You should’ve dealt with him back then!"

  Zefa g her silently, but Akainu scowled. "Don’t get ahead of yourself!"

  Zean shrank back immediately, her earlier fidence repced by an awkward grin.

  Zefa waved dismissively. "Rex, Akainu. Zean’s earned her praise this time."

  "With this intelligence, handling the underworld will be far easier moving forward. Your aplishments are as signifit as opening a new battlefield!"

  The three immediately stood up.

  "Zefa-sensei, you overpraise us," Hina said humbly. "This is just Hina’s duty." "All credit goes to yuidaeacher," Zean chimed in.

  Zefa sighed. "Alright, enough fttery. Sit down!"

  As they plied, Zefa turo Smoker and Hina. "You two, after eliminating Gavint, I promised you a Devil Fruit as a reward. But given that both of you already possess Logia abilities, and sidering your ret achievements, I’m unsure how to reward you properly."

  "For now, let’s wait until we return to headquarters. Rest assured, I won’t fet."

  Smoker and Hina saluted sharply. "Uood!"

  Zefa nodded. "Good. For now, you’re dismissed."

  Reizing the unspoken signal, Smoker knew Zefa had private matters to discuss with Akainu and Zean. Without hesitation, he left the room with Hina.

  As they exited, they faintly heard Zefa say something, followed by Zean’s indignant protest. Not daring to lihey headed straight back to their quarters.

  **Thanks to their ret achievements, Smoker and Hina were assigned a private room, a privilege typically reserved for officers.**

  Though the room's soundproofing wasn’t great and didn’t offer plete privacy, it was still far better than squeezing into a crowded bunkroom with a group of rowdy men.

  As Hina tidied up the space, she chatted casually. "I wonder what Zefa-sensei is discussing with Rear Admiral Zean. Zean didn’t seem too happy about it..."

  After a while, when Smoker didn’t reply, she gnced over curiously. "Smoker?"

  He was sitting in a daze, holding a box—the treasure chest they had taken from Trebol.

  Hina walked over, her curiosity piqued. "What’s that?"

  Smoker snapped out of his thoughts and opehe box, revealing a pristine white Devil Fruit. Its swirling patterns bore a slight resembo his own Smoke-Smoke Fruit. "This is the Snow-Snow Fruit, a Logia-type Devil Fruit, but weaker than the Ice-Ice Fruit."

  "While it’s not the most powerful Logia fruit, it’s still incredibly rare," Smoker added.

  Hina reached out aly touched the fruit. "Logia fruits are never weak. Even if a regur marie this, they’d immediately bee a priority for training. Still, relying too mu a fruit is dangerous."

  She paused, her tone being more ptive. "Ultimately, it’s not the fruit that’s powerful—it’s the person wielding it."

  Smoker remained silent, though internally he was less vinced. **"Who even came up with this nonsense? Sounds like textbook PUA tactics."** **"If that’s true, why do the Four Emperors, Admirals, and Warlords all have top-tier fruits?"** **"Sure, we hear about strong fighters without fruits, but who’s ever seen someone succeed with a trash-tier fruit?"** **"And don’t get me started on the Rubber Fruit—it turned out to be the disguise of Nika all along!"**

  Unaware of Smoker’s inner musings, Hina tinued. "Smoker, what do you pn to do with Dofmingo’s officers? You’re not going to lock them up for months again, are you?"

  Even Hina found that approach excessive—though she reminded herself pirates didn’t deserve humareatment.

  Smoker lit a cigar and exhaled a puff of smoke. "I haven’t decided yet..."

  He frowned, geroubled. They had already interrogated Diamante and plundered Dofmingo’s resources, squeezing every bit of valuable information out of them.

  Now, the most valuable things left were the Devil Fruits. And he had to admit, their abilities were impressive.

  - *Sticky-Sticky Fruit:* Simir to the Wax-Wax Fruit, it produced highly adhesive, fmmable, and explosive substances. Excellent for trol and capable of signifit damage. - Boom-Boom Fruit and Ton-Ton Fruit: One could detonate inanic materials, and the other dramatically increased weight. Properly utilized, they could rival explosion-release teiques and heavy rock attacks.

  Adding these to the Dust-Dust Fruit already in his possession would give him a colle of fh-quality fruits. Jackpot!

  However, Smoker knew better than to rely on luck alohough he had mao cim the Dust-Dust Fruit before, it was mostly thanks to a fortunate sequence of events.

  The meics of Devil Fruit transfer were still a mystery. The only firmed instance was when the Axolotl Fruit transferred to an apple after Smiley’s explosion.

  But Smoker doubted it was that simple. The world of pirates had a long history, spanniuries.

  tless Devil Fruit users must have died near fruit, yet the process remained an enigma. If it were shtforward, Bckbeard wouldn’t have bee infamous as a "Devil Fruit hunter."

  Sman sidering the transfer patterns.

  - Bckbeard acquired the Tremor-Tremor Fruit under unknown circumstances. - Big Mom supposedly gaihe Soul-Soul Fruit after ing Mother Carmel. - Abasta housed two Zoan fruits passed down through geions. - Jesus Burgess attempted to kill Luffy to steal the Rubber Fruit.

  **What’s the on thread here? And what role does the Dark-Dark Fruit py in all this?**

  Lost in thought, Smoker’s eyes suddenly lit up. "Hina, you fetch me some fruit from the kit? One of each type!"

  "Uh… what?!"

  Though baffled, Hina nodded without hesitation. "Alright!"

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